


Blooming Day

by Vixella



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, CEO AU, F/M, Fluff, Smut, Soulmate AU, soft smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 08:46:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19169791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixella/pseuds/Vixella
Summary: You’d never wanted a soulmate and as you had no obvious marks, strange dreams or ways to communicate with one you’d hoped you would be one of the (un)lucky few that wouldn’t have one. Yet, all it took was one overheard conversation and a single word tattooed onto your skin for all hope to fade. That didn’t mean that you’d change your mind and give in without a fight though.





	Blooming Day

You drowned out the sound of your best friend giving you instructions as he leaned against your desk, pretending to pay attention. In all actuality, you were much more focused on the absolutely riveting game of minesweeper but he didn’t know that… or so you thought.

“Are you even listening to me? I swear to Lady Gaga I will close that damn window, don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.’

As soon as the threat passed Hakyeon’s lips you looked up at him wide-eyed, moving your hands as far away from the computer as you could because if there was one thing that everyone knew about Cha Hakyeon, it was that he didn’t make empty threats. Well, that and he would sass the Pope and feel no shame.

“Do I really even need to listen? We both know that you’ve already done everything and that I’ll basically be making him coffee and answering the phone for the day,” You responded with a slight roll of your eyes.

“Bitch, did you just roll your eyes at me?” He demanded, narrowing his own eyes in a way that was truly terrifying for anyone but you.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, babe,” you answered him with an innocent smile, causing his eyes to narrow so much you weren’t entirely sure that he could even see anymore.

“You’re lucky that I love you,” he finally responded with a small snort and eye roll of his own. “Anyway, yes I’ve done everything myself already, like I’d trust anything in your incapable hands.”

“If you weren’t paying me with a night out and free drinks I’d make you find someone else to do your job for a day.” You grumbled at him, pushing yourself away from your desk and getting ready to leave.

“Please, like you can ever say no to me.”

As much as you hated to admit it, he was right and it was definitely something that he used to his advantage at every given opportunity. Which was precisely why you were headed home to get changed for a night out with your closest friends on a work night.

Hours later you were very much regretting the demand of free alcohol and karaoke in return for taking over his duties as the secretary for the CEO of Privé for a day. A drunk Hakyeon was a very loud and opinionated Hakyeon, something your alcohol deprived mind had apparently forgotten as soon as ‘free alcohol’ was mentioned.

“I don’t want or need a soulmate, Hakyeon,” you sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night… and it probably was.

“I really don’t see why you’re so against it,” He slurred over his drink, the one that you’d wanted to pour over him upon your return to the table thanks to the hideous name that had left your sweet, innocent lips. You didn’t think you’d ever get over the embarrassment of ordering Screaming Sex With The Bartender.

“Sure, your parents left you and your sister to raise yourselves because all they cared about was each other, and sure your sister conveniently forgot about your existence the moment that she met hers but they don’t all turn out bad for the people around them! Jaehwan and I are still with you, aren’t we?” He asked, downing his drink a little too quickly for your liking. Even Jaehwan just sat there shaking his head at the thought of having to get him home later.

“You say that like it would change my mind. You and Jaehwan would put anyone off bonding,” You shot back with an amused snort. They were a match made in hell.

“That is beside the point,” Jinri butted in beside you, earning herself a glare from Hakyeon for stealing his gig. In the end, he just decided to ditch you all for the mic in the karaoke bar, quickly downing a Slippery Nipple first of course. “What will you do when you finally meet them?”

You shrugged at her in response, really not wanting to talk about it anymore. It was supposed to be a fun night out and instead it turned into a double team lecture on ‘Why you should be glad soulmates exist blah blah blah.” To be truthful, you’d had enough. You’d made your mind up long ago. No soulmate for you, end of discussion.

“Let’s just drop the topic for tonight,” Jaehwan cut in, your ever reliable knight in shining armour when it came to saving you from these conversations. He knew how much you hated it and that no amount of arguing with you would change your mind and would, in fact, just piss you off.

The three of you winced in tandem when Hakyeon’s song of choice came on, Madonna’s Like A Virgin beginning to play throughout the bar. You had to hand it to him, even absolutely wasted your best friend knew how to put on a show.

“HE’S NOT A VIRGIN!” You heard someone yell from toward the back and you couldn’t help but laugh, Jinri snickering beside you. Jaehwan had a growing look of horror dawning across his features as he watched his boyfriend on the stage.

You glanced up, only to laugh even more when you noticed the way that Hakyeon had stopped singing, hip jutted out with a hand positioned perfectly to rest there. “No one asked for your opinion, bitch!” He snapped, before sassily flipping imaginary hair over his shoulder and turning around to demand a restart to the song. One should never interrupt a Cha Hakyeon performance.

“And I think that is my cue to take him home before somebody ends up injured,” Jaehwan stated, ignoring your puppy dog look when you turned to pout at him.

“But why? As if anyone would have the balls where Hakyeon is concerned,” You whined at him, trying to cajole him into staying. Things just started to get fun for you, now that they’d stopped their topic of discussion for the night.

“You know it’s not him that I’m worried about,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “I’d give him one more shot before he eviscerates someone with his tongue alone.”

You sighed, knowing that he was correct, though you still didn’t like it. You also knew that it was getting far too late for you to be out when you had work in the morning, especially when you’d be covering for the CEO’s secretary. The pout remained on your face the whole time that you were getting ready to leave and your friends were trying to wrangle Hakyeon out of the bar.

//

Why, oh why, were you so weak? Thanks to your inability to turn down a totally free, all expenses paid night out with your friends you were running late. On a normal day, it wouldn’t really bother you that much, but this was definitely not a normal day considering you were the stand-in secretary for the CEO.

After making a quick pit stop to grab yourself a coffee, because by the mother of all things holy did you need it, you drove yourself as quickly as you could to your workplace. Thankfully, you were only about 15 minutes late by the time you actually arrived and you were hopeful that your day would only improve after it’s terrible start. But when had the higher powers that be ever been kind to you?

The moment you stepped out of the elevator you crashed into some poor, unsuspecting soul, who in return let out a rather undignified yelp at the scalding coffee that was now making itself at home on his formerly immaculate suit.

The moment that you realised exactly who it was that you’d just unceremoniously dumped your oh so precious coffee on, you started to panic.

“Mr Byun, I’m so, so sorry!” You bleated out, frantically pulling tissues out of your bag to try and absorb some of the damage because, of course, you’d just spilt an entire cup of boiling coffee on the CEO. You were expecting to lose your job on the spot, maybe get yelled at a little if he didn’t instantly fire you for your ineptitude and clumsiness. What you were not expecting, was the breathy and yet slightly pained chuckle that caused your eyes to fly up to his face.

“It’s alright, I’m pretty sure I have extras in the office. I can change.”

It took you a moment to register what he’d actually said because despite working here for over a year and being the secretary for his lead creative designer, you’d never been this close to him before. The man was beautiful, looking like he’d been hand sculpted by the gods himself and it completely caused your brain to short circuit for a moment.

His soft brown hair was messily styled and yet still made him look unbelievably sexy, something you weren’t afraid to admit. His skin was flawless, eyes warm and inviting and filled with a content happiness that you rarely saw in others. His pink lips were pulled into a soft smile despite the way that his coffee-stained shirt clung to him and how uncomfortable it must be.

You also weren’t afraid to look lower, noting the way that his suit jacket was unbuttoned and yet still seemed to hug him perfectly. You found your eyes lingering on the wet, white shirt that clung to his torso in a way that was far, far too appealing and quickly dragged your eyes back up to his before he noticed, though judging by the amused look in his eyes he already had.

“You…” You started, only to clear your throat and look away from him, the fact that he was amused at you blatantly checking him out actually causing you to feel a small tinge of embarrassment. “You keep spare clothes in your office?”

“Oh no I don’t, but Hakyeon does.” He answered you with a small chuckle, one which you returned with a smile.

“Of course, he’s always prepared for everything,” You responded, following behind Baekhyun as he made his way back to his office to change, while you made a detour to your best friends desk that was now yours for the day.

“Feel free to come to me if you need anything,” Baekhyun told you, hesitating with his hand on the door to his office and you gave him a warm smile after taking your seat.

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?” You asked him with a small laugh and shake of your head. He wasn’t like any CEO you’d heard of before.

“Oh, you’re right. Well… have a good day,” He told you, his cheeks looking a little red as he stepped into the office, closing the door behind him. You stared at the closed door for a moment, wondering why he was so different, so kind, before shrugging and getting to work.

//

Your morning passed pretty uneventfully given Hakyeon’s perfectionist nature when it came to his job. There was literally nothing for you to do other than answer the phone, play endless games of minesweeper and bring Baekhyun coffee whenever he asked for it. You weren’t afraid to admit that the coffee duties were the best part, the soft smiles and his shining eyes greeting you every time you stepped into his office and his softly murmured words of thanks making you feel much warmer than you should.

Should you be questioning the inexplicable way that your mind and body reacts to him? Probably. Will you? Nope. You don’t want to go there.

You glanced down at your watch, noticing that it was getting close to lunch time and that you should probably see if Baekhyun wanted you to get him anything or if he’d be eating out. Pushing your seat back, you were just about to stand when the man himself walked out of his office, glancing over at you with his ever-present smile before heading over to you.

“Hey, do you want lunch?” He asked you, propping a hip at the front of your desk as you blinked up at him, completely bewildered by the question. He was offering you lunch? Why was he offering you lunch? Wasn’t that supposed to be your job?

When you voiced those thoughts to him, it was his turn to stare at you blankly and blink at you for a few moments, before once again smiling and giving you a small shrug.

“I guess you’re right… so why don’t you go and get us both lunch and you can eat in my office with me?”

When you just stared at him instead of responding, your brain refusing to compute that the CEO had just asked you to have lunch with him, he quickly continued.

“I have more work to do so I don’t really have the time to go out of the office today and I really hate eating alone… please?” He finished with a small pout and wide eyes. Which you actually kind of hated him for because dammit, how were you supposed to say no now?

You stayed silent for a while longer, the pout not leaving his face as he looked at you hopefully and you finally admitted defeat. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you agreed to eat with him, just once.

“Okay,” you finally relented with a small sigh, almost snorting at the way that the pout instantly changed into a blinding smile. He’d played you, and you knew it. “Anything in particular that you want, I’ll go and get it and bring it back to you.”

He shook his head at you as you got up from your desk, grabbing your bag and making sure that you had your wallet.

“Whatever you want, sunshine.” He told you, turning to head back to his office as you froze at the pet name, staring wide-eyed at his retreating back. “Just make sure it doesn’t have cucumbers!”

//

By the time you returned to the office with your lunches, you’d gotten over the fact that your boss had called you by a sickeningly sweet pet name and the way that your heart had reacted to it. That one single word had practically caused your heart to propel itself from your chest and after a very stern mental talk with the organ, you were satisfied that it wouldn’t happen again.

Knocking on the door to Baekhyun’s office, you waited for a moment until he told you to enter. He’d told you to get whatever you wanted and so you’d decided to get the black bean noodles that you’d been craving which made you stupidly happy. It was a side of you that even Hakyeon found endearing, the sheer joy that you radiated when you were finally able to eat something that your body had been demanding for weeks and this was definitely one of those times. You were practically skipping your way into his office.

Baekhyun had already removed his jacket and loosened his tie before you’d returned and you couldn’t help but notice the way that his slender fingers were undoing the buttons of his cuffs before rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt as he moved over to one of the leather couches. How was every little thing that the man did so freaking attractive?

Focusing on preparing the food on the glass table instead of drooling over your boss, you didn’t notice the way that you were practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of finally getting your hands on the delicious noodles, though Baekhyun certainly did judging by the amused laughter that rang in your ears.

You coughed nervously as you finished, finally taking a seat opposite him and grabbing your chopsticks as Baekhyun did the same.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, definitely feeling a little embarrassed. “I’ve been craving this for weeks.”

“Why are you apologising? It’s cute,” He told you with a small chuckle, causing you to choke slightly on your first mouthful. You also tried to will away the blush you felt rising along your neck because you weren’t in high school anymore damn it.

“So, how long have you and Hakyeon been friends?” Baekhyun asked, obviously taking pity on you due to your flustered state and changing the subject. Deep down you were very grateful but you also wanted him to choke on his own noodles, just a little bit, for saying something to make you react in such a way in the first place.

“We’ve known each other since we were kids, actually. He’s been my best friend since I was 7,” You answered him after swallowing down the huge bite of noodles, not even ashamed of the fact that you were devouring your food like a starving Hyena as the man opposite watched you with an amused smile.

“That long? How have you even survived?” He joked, before continuing to eat his own food. You couldn’t help but laugh at the question.

“Well, he wasn’t always the sassy diva that we all know and love,” You told him, going on to enlighten him about how Hakyeon had been before he hit puberty and the ways in which he’d suddenly changed.

You found yourself enjoying yourself more than you ever really did with other people as you talked to him and laughed with him, there was just something about him that made you feel comfortable and able to be yourself. Though you decided not to think too much on if that was just something that was a part of him, if he was able to do that with everyone and it wasn’t just a reaction that you had to him.

“You know, I actually find him quite scary, but please don’t tell him that,” Baekhyun told you when he’d finished laughing at your last story, the one about the time in high school when Hakyeon earned himself a month of detention for lecturing the head teacher on his fashion choices mid assembly for 15 minutes, only to have it doubled when his sole response had been ‘Don’t blame me when you’re forever alone and unable to get laid because you’re the walking embodiment of what shows up when someone from Downton Abbey orders a hooker.’

“I’d be worried if you didn’t, Hakyeon scares everyone,” you told him simply, leaning back more comfortably when you’d finished your food.

“Even my pout doesn’t work on him,” Baekhyun sighed, said pout forming as he spoke of it. “It’s not fair, my pout works on everyone.”

“I knew you were doing that on purpose!” You grumbled, a small pout of your own forming to match his own, though his was quickly replaced with a cheeky smile. “I need to get Hakyeon to teach me to ignore it.”

“Good luck with that,” Baekhyun told you with a small smirk that was just too damned attractive. “He’s a breed of his own, what works for him won’t work for everyone else.”

“You’re right,” You answered with a small sigh, averting your gaze from him so that you would stop looking at his damned lips and you could try to pretend that he wasn’t smirking at you in such a way.

You were distracted when you noticed an open folder at the other end of the table, your curiosity piqued when you noticed that it was a new design. Reaching out to pull it over to you, you let your eyes skim over it as Baekhyun watched. You weren’t even concerned about the fact that you were being decidedly nosey.

“I really like this shade of blue,” You murmured quietly. It was a men’s shirt, designed to be left open and worn over the top of something else. The sketch was done in a deep blue that you actually found very nice to look at. “Have you decided on fabrics yet?”

“Not yet,” He shrugged. “It’s the last one to be designed but I still haven’t settled on a fabric for the one that goes with it.”

“Can I make a suggestion?” You asked a little hesitantly, though you gained confidence when he simply nodded at you and waited for you to continue.

“I think either satin or silk would be nice, especially with that shade of blue… maybe even some sort of glossy satin?”

Baekhyun simply stared at you for a moment, before a smile slowly spread across his face. “I like that, actually. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” You mumbled, coughing quietly as you got up to start to tidy the table. Damn his smiles and the effect that they had on you. “I should get back to work, thank you for lunch!”

“Not a problem, sunshine. Maybe we should do it again sometime?” He replied, throwing a wink along with it and you practically bolted out of the office in response to that. The man was going to be the death of you.

//

Chanyeol exited the elevator with a cheerful wave, which you returned to him while listening to the complaints of your extremely hungover best friend. You didn’t stop Chanyeol from entering Baekhyun’s office, due to the fact that everyone knew Baekhyun’s best friend. The man was a walking disaster and an extremely loud one at that.

You continued to hum along consolingly to Hakyeon, not actually really paying attention to his complaints. It was his own fault for drinking as much as he did when he knew he had most of the morning spent in a car, driving out of the city to visit his parents with Jaehwan. You had zero sympathy.

Instead, you decided to rifle through Hakyeon’s desk, something that he would surely murder you for when he stepped back into the office to find all of his things moved around. You noticed some files on the desk which you’d ignored earlier, only now noticing the yellow post-it asking you to make sure that Baekhyun signed them.

Deciding to get it done and also using it as an excuse to not deal with your best friend’s pitiful whines that grew increasingly louder the more you ignored him, you quickly bid him goodbye and got up from the desk as soon as you’d hung up.

Making your way toward the office, files in hand, a small smile was already forming as you listened to Chanyeol excitedly rambling on from the other side of the door. You could hear him clearly, for some unknown reason he was giving Baekhyun a lecture on the word defenestration and explaining to him that yes, there was in fact a word that was solely there to describe the act of throwing somebody out of a window.

You were about to knock when Baekhyun answered him. You heard the snort followed by his question of “Did you really come all the way here just to tell me what defenestration means?” and the moment he finished speaking, you completely froze.

You could feel the blooming heat across your collarbone, the tingling sensation that accompanied it and you were pretty sure you forgot entirely that human beings needed to breathe. Pulling your hand away from the door handle as though you’d been burned, you brought your hand up to your collar, knowing that you needed to look, that you needed to check and that you needed to be sure… but you weren’t entirely sure that you were prepared for it. Actually, you knew that you weren’t prepared for it.

Knowing exactly what it meant, what the sensation was that you’d felt was and just how much sense it made given the events of your day didn’t make it any better. It was a nightmare come true for you, the one thing that you’d been trying to avoid your entire life and now, here it was right in front of you.

You shakily moved your collar away, taking a shaky breath before looking down. Of course, right there on your previously unblemished skin, was a tattoo. You’d probably laugh at the fact that your soulmate tattoo was of the word defenestration of all things, if you didn’t feel like your whole world had just shattered right in front of your eyes.

//  

Spending the entire weekend locked away in your apartment, hiding from the world, probably wasn’t the best way to deal with finding the one person in the universe that was destined for you; but that was exactly what you did.

Nobody really understood why you felt the way that you did about soulmates, even Hakyeon thought that you were overreacting to the whole thing, but what it actually all boiled down to was fear.

You’d never been one to shy away from owning up to your weaknesses, always ready and willing to admit to them, both to yourself and others. You were human and of course, humans had weaknesses and made mistakes. It all depended on how you chose to deal with them and if you allowed yourself to learn from them. The fear that you had for the soulmate bond was probably your biggest and most irrational, however, so you were definitely not dealing with it in an appropriate way for the mature adult that you were.

You weren’t ready to accept it, to accept him and you truly doubted that you would ever be. Of course you knew that you couldn’t base everything on your own experiences, but truthfully, what you were afraid of was yourself. As a child, your parents had completely forgotten your existence as well as your sister. They were far too wrapped up in each other, always with each other, never giving anyone else the time of day; not even their children. You had single-handedly raised your sister from a very young age and you’d grown to resent your parents as well as the soulmate bond entirely.

The moment that your sister had met her own soulmate, the cycle had repeated itself. She completely forgot about you, her friends and every other person in her life that had once mattered; her focus shifting to her destined partner and them alone. It was as though you had ceased to exist to her completely.

That was what you were truly terrified of. Being so reliant on somebody else, needing them near you and wanting them to be so badly that you completely forgot about everyone else that had once meant something to you. You were scared of showering somebody else with so much love and affection that it should be utterly suffocating and needing the same in return, just to be happy.

You knew that not everyone ended up that way, Hakyeon and Jaehwan being prime examples, but you were too ruled by your fear to bring yourself to attempt it.

Releasing a small sigh, you stretched yourself out on the couch, burying yourself further under the blankets that you’d been wrapped up in for hours. The television was on in the background, though you weren’t paying attention to it. You were painfully aware of the new mark on your skin, just underneath the fabric of your shirt. Not being able to see it didn’t mean that you could ignore it, and oh how you wished that you could forget it was there.

Baekhyun had been rather confused by your abrupt change in behaviour toward him when you’d entered his office to get those damn files signed. You hadn’t looked at him, had barely spoken to him in fear if saying something to trigger his own bond into action. You’d spent the rest of the afternoon repeating the actions of looking anywhere but at him when you’d had to enter his office and refusing to speak unless absolutely necessary. You’d felt guilt niggling away at you due to the confusion that he’d radiated and the look of slight hurt that he wasn’t able to mask, but it couldn’t be helped.

You had no idea what to do, other than to pretend that it had never happened in the first place and to distance yourself from him. He didn’t know yet, you were sure of that and you intended to keep it that way, at least for now.

//

“You! Get your perfectly rounded behind off of my desk!” You growled at your best friend on Monday morning when you walked into the office, only to find the devil himself waiting for you. It was irrational to blame him for the situation, you knew that, but you needed to blame someone.

“Did they run out of your favourite coffee?” He asked simply with a small quirk of one of his perfectly groomed eyebrows. “That’s a shame.”

“Don’t you have work to be doing?” You sighed, not willing to admit that yes, you were extra grumpy this morning as you hadn’t had time to stop for your morning drink. Placing your bag under your desk, you settled yourself in your chair before setting up for your morning game of minesweeper. You’d get your boss’ morning coffee ready after the game, as per your usual routine.

“Just wanted to see how you got on living in my perfect shoes for a day,’ he replied, eyeing you in a way that clearly screamed trouble. “You didn’t speak to me for the entire weekend, after all. You’re lucky that Jaehwan stopped me from going over to you because girl, I do not like being ignored!”

“I wasn’t ignoring you…” A lie.

“Oh, then what were you doing while not ignoring me?” He demanded to know, once again seeing through you.

“I was relaxing, something quite hard to do with you around,” you told him, another complete lie. You were actually being a whiny, depressed baby over Fate in the privacy of your apartment for two days but he didn’t need to know that.

“Please, I am a master when it comes to relaxation.”

“You think you’re a master when it comes to everything,” you deadpanned.

“Bitch, that’s because I am!”

You were pretty sure that you’d never snorted nor laughed as hard as you did at that, you were literally clutching your stomach as you struggled to breathe.

“Whatever,” he responded with a small sniff, folding his arms over his chest while giving you the stink eye at your disgusting lies. “How was your day with Baekhyun?”

“It was fine,” you answered simply once you’d calmed down and also after a brief hesitation. Of course, he caught it, something which was proven by the slight narrowing of his eyes. Internally groaning, you wondered if he would eventually believe you if you insisted enough.

“Fine? Just fine? You’re sure about that?”

“Yup!” You confirmed with a very bright and obviously fake smile in place. “Literally all I did was feed him coffee and play minesweeper. Now, go to work! You’re distracting me.”

Your best friend continued to squint at you for a moment before he relented, moving away from your desk and calling over his shoulder that he’d see you for lunch, while you breathed a quiet sigh of relief. You wondered how long you would be able to survive with this massive weight on your shoulders. If there was one person that you genuinely couldn’t keep secrets from, it was Hakyeon. He was like a bloodhound when it came to sniffing them out.

//

The following weeks were hell on earth for you. You were doing your best to avoid Baekhyun, something that should have been extremely easy given that in the entire year you’d worked there, you’d barely set eyes on the man. Now, however, the fates definitely seemed to have it out for you.

The man was literally everywhere.

Typical cliche run-ins in the elevator while you awkwardly fiddled with whatever you could find as he had a one-way conversation with you? Yup.

Him going out of his way to drop by your desk to most likely invite you for lunch again, with you trying to sneak away before he could actually find you? Another yes.

Behaving like an extremely inept secret agent whenever you went to visit Hakyeon on his floor, figuring that it would in some way aid your mission of avoiding the man that you dreaded running into? Definitely.

Awkward meetings in the copy room with Baekhyun trying to talk to you, his bright smile slowly falling as he realised that the best he was going to get were the sporadic hums that passed through your tightly pressed lips? Certainly.

You blamed Hakyeon for that one, though. What kind of secretary makes their boss photocopy their own papers?

The biggest problem was that you’d realised just how attracted you were to him, how much you desired him and how much you just wanted to be around him. You actually began to hate yourself for it and you especially despised the fact that it was beyond your control. Your mind refused to even contemplate the fact that you’d felt exactly the same way toward him before the bond had even been triggered, blaming it totally on the fact that he was your soulmate.

You also disliked the fact that no matter how much you tried to force yourself, you couldn’t bring yourself to hate him. The man was far too nice and kind, sweet and playful. You felt terrible when you saw the hurt in his eyes that he couldn’t hide quickly enough whenever you ignored him or rebuffed him, and yet the man still continued to try. It was painfully obvious at this point that he liked you, even not knowing that he was destined for you and after weeks of making him deal with your terrible attitude toward him, your heart was slowly beginning to thaw. Despite your slowly waning resolve, you still promised yourself that you would continue to fight until you had no fight left to give.

Hakyeon had been surprisingly quiet about the fact that you were blatantly hiding something from him. He knew you too well and he wasn’t an idiot. You were quite proud of yourself that you’d managed to keep it a secret from him for so long, but alas, all good things must come to an end.

You’d developed a strange sense of pride at just how skilful you had been, in your opinion, at avoiding Baekhyun. You believed that it wasn’t blatantly obvious and that your stealth skills had improved drastically. That mindset came crashing down that afternoon.

You were spinning around aimlessly on Hakyeon’s chair, waiting for him to return with the coffee’s he’d gone to get for the both of you, when you saw Baekhyun coming. Instead of acting like a rational, adult human being, you threw yourself under the desk.

You held your breath for a moment, praying to any and all higher powers that may or may not exist, that he hadn’t noticed you. When he moved over to your hiding place, you began to panic.

At that moment, Hakyeon decided to return with the coffees that he’d gone to get for the both of you and you almost cried with relief. You almost laughed out loud when you imagined the look of confusion he was probably sporting thanks to your sudden disappearance.

“Hey, I just wanted to check that everything is set for the camping trip this weekend?” You heard Baekhyun ask your best friend, his soft, honey-like voice drifting through your ears. Your heart stuttered slightly at the sound of it, almost as though it were trying to move towards him and you mentally scolded it for betraying you in such a way.

“Of course it is, I’m Cha Hakyeon.” Your best friend replied and you could practically hear the eye roll that went along with it.

“That’s great,” Baekhyun replied. You hoped that he would leave so that you could finally remove yourself from your hiding spot and fob Hakyeon off with some excuse that he would never actually believe in a million years.

Apparently, Hakyeon was still looking pretty confused by your sudden vanishing act, however. It was then that you were forced to accept that you were not as stealthy as you believed.

“She’s hiding from me, under your desk,” Baekhyun told him and your eyes widened to an almost comical degree, pure horror painted on every corner of your face.

“I’m sorry, she’s what now?” Hakyeon asked him, sounding utterly bemused. “Why would she do that?”

“Beats me,” Baekhyun replied with a sigh that clearly showed his exasperation. It was then that you decided to cut your losses and beat a hasty retreat to some private corner of the building so that you could lick your wounds.

You exited from under the desk, clearing your throat uncomfortably while refusing to look at either of them, slowly angling your way around the desk.

“I should… go…” you muttered to the silent pair, reaching out to grab the coffee that Hakyeon had brought for you before practically sprinting to the elevator.

It was only once you were enclosed in the metal box that you realised what they’d been talking about. The annual team building camping trip that you as well as a dozen others would be forced to attend… as well as Baekhyun himself.

//

By the time Friday morning rolled around, you were a nervous wreck. It was the day of the camping trip and you’d all be returning on Monday morning. You’d had the whole week to work yourself into a frenzy over it: the fact that you would be stuck with Baekhyun. In the middle of the woods. Far from civilisation. With no escape.

Ok, so you were being a little dramatic, especially given the fact that you would be driving there in your own car and perfectly capable of leaving whenever you wished. Sometimes a girl just needed a little drama in their lives… or in your case, a lot.

You pulled up in front of Hakyeon’s apartment, rifling through your bag for your phone to send a quick text that you were outside. Jaehwan was coming too as Hakyeon absolutely refused to spend that long without him, so you prepared yourself to move into the back seat to allow the two lovebirds to be together. Jaehwan would be driving because with either you or Hakyeon behind the wheel while in the same car, you wouldn’t make it there in one piece.

As soon as you noticed the two exiting the building you got out of the car, giving Jaehwan a hug before doing the same to Hakyeon. It took you all a moment to get settled into the car, with you now in the back and the couple in the front.

As soon as Jaehwan pulled away, Hakyeon started hooking his phone up to the radio and you let out a groan as Britney Spears began to blast through the speakers.

You lasted a minute. A whole entire minute of Hakyeon dancing away in the passenger seat as though he was one with Britney herself before you couldn’t handle anymore.

“Jaehwan, please make it stop. I can’t take three hours of this without offing myself in the backseat. Do you really want to be cleaning my blood from the new leather? Huh?” You whined pitifully as Jaehwan laughed at your dramatics. Hakyeon stopped and turned to you with a glare that was so terrifying you actually gulped.

“It’s your car he wouldn’t have to clean it. Also, you gave me radio privileges as an apology for keeping secrets from me, so you can deal with it. Unless you want to take it back and have Baekkie boy find out your little secret?”

You stared at him for a moment before narrowing your own eyes at him and whispering “you wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me, bitch,” Hakyeon responded, spinning back around in the seat to continue his one-man dance party while you resigned yourself to three hours of torture.

After the desk incident, Hakyeon had figured everything out and he had not been happy that you’d kept something like that from him. Now you had no choice but to do whatever the diva wanted just to keep him happy. The only thing that you had to be thankful for was that he’d been so mad at you for keeping it a secret, he hadn’t actually confronted you on how you were hiding from your soulmate instead of throwing yourself at him.

Of course, that couldn’t continue forever and it was an hour into the car ride that he turned to you with a look in his eye that told you that you were in for it.

“So… what’s your plan?” He asked you, raising a brow curiously.

“Plan? What plan? What would I plan for?” You asked, genuinely baffled.

“Baekhyun.”

“What about him?” You replied, feigning ignorance.

“Stop acting dumb with me. You’re stupid but you’re not that stupid.’ He told you and you stared at him for a moment because  _ouch_.

“I’m not acting dumb. I’m going to continue doing what I have been doing.”

“What, acting like a knock-off James Bond?”

You glared at him at that comment because you weren’t that bad, dammit. You just panicked, the desk incident was totally unintentional. It had only happened one time.

“What do you want me to say?” You huffed, looking out of the window because you didn’t want to look at him.

“Are you going to at least tell him?” He asked, his gaze and voice both softening at how dejected you looked about the whole thing. “You know that there’s no escaping it, you have no choice but to accept it.”

You stayed silent, continuing to gaze out of the window. Jaehwan remained quiet as he drove, trying not to interrupt the small moment between you.

“I know that,” you finally responded quietly. “I just need time, Hakyeon. Can’t I just take some time to come to terms with it?”

“Are you actually ever going to come to terms with it? Or is that just an excuse to get me off your back?” He asked you, giving you a moment to answer him and sighing when you didn’t. “You need to tell him and the longer you leave it the more upset he’s going to be when he does find out. You really want to sabotage this whole thing before it can even start?”

“Whatever, I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” you said, grabbing your hoodie from beside you to fashion yourself a pillow before making yourself comfortable. “I’m going to sleep.”

Hakyeon looked like he was going to say more, but Jaehwan tapped him on the shoulder, giving him a look and shaking his head. God bless that man for always coming to your rescue.

//

Later that afternoon you were exhausted and you needed to get away from your best friend because as much as you loved him, he was driving you absolutely insane. Once you’d arrived at the campsite and set up your own tent, you’d also had to help Jaehwan with his and Hakyeon’s, as the latter refused, prissy diva that he was.

You hadn’t seen much of Baekhyun yet, other than when you’d first arrived. The pang you’d felt in your heart once you’d set eyes on him was another reason for why you wanted some time to yourself.

Jaehwan was understanding when you told him that you needed some alone time, that you needed some space to breathe and to think. He knew that trying to force your hand on all of your troubles would get them nowhere and that you’d be better off dealing with it all at your own pace.

That was how you found yourself seated on a log in the wooded area that was close to your campsite around 20 minutes later, tossing little pebbles into the water of the small pond that you’d happened to find.

You let out a small sigh as you threw the last pebble that you’d collected, enjoying the peace that gave you time to think. You’d concluded that you would stop avoiding Baekhyun during this trip and possibly use it to get to know him better, though you still weren’t ready to tell him he was your soulmate. You weren’t even ready to do this properly, getting to know him, but you were planning on taking it slowly and just starting by spending more time around him. You wanted to let things fall into place on their own, naturally.

You knew that you weren’t being fair to him, not at all, but it wasn’t easy to get over your fears. He at least deserved for you to give him a chance instead of doing everything in your power to avoid acknowledging his very existence.

“What are you doing all the way out here by yourself?”

You startled when you heard the soft voice behind you, your hand flying up to clutch at your chest in fright. Looking behind you, you found Baekhyun looking back at you with a sheepish smile and you chuckled softly, still trying to catch your breath because your heart was racing a mile a minute. Baekhyun moved to take a seat beside you on the log, murmuring a small apology for scaring you.

“It’s okay,” you assured him before answering his question. “I needed to get away from Hakyeon for a bit. I love the guy but I definitely do not like being stuck in a moving box with him for three hours with no way out.”

“Same as me then, minus the hours stuck in a car, of course.” He told you, flashing you a smile that caused your breath to catch in your throat. He was dressed casually, a simple grey hoodie, tee and jeans but he still looked like a model. He’d changed his hair, the locks no longer a soft brown but instead a warm red. It’d also been permed into soft, fluffy looking curls. Fuck, he was beautiful.

“Let me guess? He’s taken on the role of army general of the year?” You asked him, giggling slightly when he started to nod emphatically.

“He’s a slave driver, I swear. We don’t even have anything on the agenda for today, it’s literally just set up and explore.”

You shook your head while laughing, completely unsurprised. Gradually, both of you fell quiet. The silence between you was strangely comfortable given how  _uncomfortable_  you had been at simply the thought of him for the past few weeks. It was nice to simply be in his presence, his body seated close to yours somehow enabling you to relax.

You glanced over at him and you found yourself unconsciously staring at him, falling into a trance as you admired him. He was sitting comfortably, bent forward slightly with his hands clasped in front of him, elbows resting on his knees as he stared out over the little pond. The way that the sun landed on him had him practically glowing, the small, content smile that pulled at his lips as he stared out over the water filling you with warmth.

“This place is really pretty.” He murmured, voice gentle and quiet.

“You’re really pretty.” You blurted out in response, your eyes widening in absolute horror as his head turned quickly, staring at you with wide, surprised eyes.

You could feel the heat on your cheeks and you knew you probably resembled a tomato. Maybe a beetroot.  _Stupid mouth_.

“Thanks,” he responded, his shocked look changing so that he was giving you an amused, flirty smile. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? I’m too pretty for you to handle?”

You began to stutter, your brain refusing to form any kind of coherent response after being called out in such a way. Could you go home? Going home sounded good right about now.

Baekhyun began to laugh at the clear panic you displayed, reaching out to pat you on the head gently. “Calm down, I’m just teasing.”

As you looked over at him, your mind running at breakneck speeds, only one particular thought stuck with you. You’d decided to give him a chance and take things slow, but you had to spend the whole weekend with him. You’d only been with him for 20 minutes at most and you were already a blushing, incoherent mess.  _You were so, so screwed._

//

“Cha Hakyeon!”

Your extremely loud screech made the man beside you jump slightly but you didn’t have it in you to feel bad at that moment. You were much too angry to care.

You’d made your way back to the campsite with Baekhyun, allowing yourself to enjoy being around him. He’d been sweet, helping you to navigate through the low hanging branches and holding your hand to keep you steady as you’d climbed over fallen logs. You’d find it funny that he’d somehow managed to stumble across you in the woods, given how far from the path you’d strayed, but since meeting him you’d learned that fate really did love to throw people together.

The moment you’d made your way over to the little one person tent, bringing your own as you hated to share, your good mood had deflated like a popped balloon - quickly and with force. It was completely unusable, the rods bent in such a way that you could clearly see was unfixable and you knew exactly who was responsible.

“What happened to your tent?” Your best friend asked with an overly exaggerated gasp when he responded to your angry call.

“I don’t know, Hakyeon, why don’t you tell me?” You asked him through gritted teeth, fury rising by the second. He wasn’t fooling you in the slightest, you knew he was responsible and you had a bit of a clue as to why he’d done such a thing.

“I have no idea,” Hakyeon responded, a devilish smile on his face that screamed trouble. “Where will you sleep? All the others have paired up already and you can’t share with Jaehwan and I.”

You didn’t fail to notice the way that he glanced at Baekhyun, the action confirming your suspicions.  _This little shit._

Baekhyun’s gaze was bouncing between the two of you as though he were watching a rather intense tennis match and you found your anger growing to alarming levels. Of course, your best friend couldn’t just let you do things at your own pace and had to stick his nose in.

“I… am going to fucking kill you, after I’ve torn off your testicles and shoved them down your throat,” you growled, launching yourself toward your best friend, only to have your murder attempt hindered by a pair of arms wrapping around you and holding you back as you struggled to gain your freedom.

“Woah there. What the hell is going on?” Baekhyun asked, looking adorably confused. At least, you’d find it adorable if you weren’t currently caught up in the middle of a homicidal rage directed at your best friend.

“It looks like something happened to her tent,” Hakyeon replied, a clearly fake innocence to his tone. “Where will she sleep?”

You gradually relaxed in Baekhyun’s hold, taking deep breaths as you fought to calm yourself. Murder was bad. Murder was illegal. You couldn’t murder your best friend, you’d go to jail.

“I’m sure we can think of something…” Baekhyun trailed off, brows furrowed. He released you from his grip once he’d noticed that you were no longer intent on pulling your best friends balls out via his throat.

“I’m going home,” you snapped, shaking your head, clearly still pissed. You actually felt a little sad about leaving though. The short time that you’d spent with Baekhyun had been enjoyable and you weren’t ashamed to admit that you wanted to be around him more. “You and Jaehwan can get yourselves home.”

“You can’t,” Hakyeon told you with a smirk. “Mandatory, remember?”

“Well, what am I supposed to do? I have nowhere to sleep!” You burst out, flinging your arms out in frustration.

“You have room in your tent, don’t you?” Hakyeon asked Baekhyun, who looked a little like a deer caught in headlights at the question, though he nodded hesitantly. “Problem solved. She can share with you, can’t she?”

You vowed to yourself that Hakyeon would not live to see the sunrise.

//

That was how you found yourself spending the night in Baekhyun’s tent. It was beyond awkward, the both of you huddled up in your sleeping bags, or in your case under one as you liked to use two (one to lay on and one spread over you as a blanket), at opposite sides of the tent.

The both of you mumbled good night and it didn’t seem to take Baekhyun long to fall asleep, though you were a different story. How were you supposed to sleep with him right beside you, his scent taking over your senses, the sound of his breathing in your ears? Those questions and his close proximity kept you awake for hours, though you drifted off eventually.

The only thing that could have made it more awkward was Baekhyun actually being aware of you moving in your sleep, somehow finding your way over to him to use him as a teddy bear. His own arms had been wrapped around you and you’d never been so thankful for anything in your entire life as you were when you realised that you’d woken before him and he had no idea about the position you’d ended up in.

You didn’t see him throughout breakfast, nor your best friend, instead spending time with Jaehwan. The morning’s activity was supposed to be a flag game, done in pairs. It was quite simple, flags were hidden all over the campsite and you needed to work together to find as many as you could in a set amount of time.

Hakyeon had gone off, dragging some of the employees with him to hide the bright coloured flags across the campsite. Everyone would be participating and you knew that Hakyeon would send them off in specific directions, sending them off in opposite directions when the game started so that they wouldn’t have an unfair advantage.

You weren’t entirely sure what Baekhyun had been doing, though your eyes had instantly found him when he’d joined everyone when the game was due to start. Hakyeon was giving instructions though you weren’t really listening.

Your cheeks began to heat up when Baekhyun shot you a small smile and you looked away quickly, embarrassed that something so simple could have you blushing.

Of course, you ended up paired with Baekhyun for the activity. That wasn’t surprising given the fact that Hakyeon was in charge of the pairings and his determination to interfere with your love life was unshakeable. Sure, you’d decided that you should give Baekhyun a chance and get to know him better but that didn’t mean you were happy with Hakyeon’s interference.

Baekhyun was wearing a simple white tee, black jeans and sneakers that looked far too nice for a jaunt out into the woods. He always looked so well put together, his clothes hugging him perfectly and you found yourself wondering what God had smiled down upon him when he was created.

“Are you ready to go? We’re supposed to be going that way,” he asked you whilst pointing off into the woods and you were thankful at least one of you listened. Of course, you had to go into the woods. Sometimes you really didn’t like your best friend.

“Sure, let me get some water,” you responded, jogging over to the large pop-up table that was practically groaning under the weight of all the bottles on top of it. You grabbed two, jogging back over to him and handing him one, which he accepted with a smile and a quiet “thanks”.

You’d been given two hours before you had to be back at the campsite and roughly an hour in, you were already tired. You weren’t entirely sure who had distributed the flags in this area but whoever it was seemed to really enjoy climbing trees.

Even though you weren’t the most athletic person, you did know how to climb trees thanks to your tomboy like ways as a kid, so you refused to let Baekhyun do all the work. The look of slight worry and concern that painted his features whenever you beat him to it was kind of cute and you found yourself liking the fact that he obviously cared for you and your well-being a little too much.

When you weren’t balancing on tree limbs, he was helping you to navigate the forest, the same way that he had the previous day. You’d discovered much more about him and you were definitely enjoying the time that you were spending with him.

He’d told you about his family and you’d been surprised to learn that he had an older brother given that he was the CEO of the company despite not being the eldest. It was then that you learned that Prive was his own company, one that he’d started from scratch upon finishing university. He’d worked hard, but he definitely hadn’t expected it to take off the way that it had.

You found yourself discussing many things: favourite colours, books, movies and you were currently onto foods.

“What do you mean you don’t like strawberries?” He gasped in mock horror at your revelation and you found yourself laughing as he guided you through the forest, making sure that none of the branches hit you.

“Says the guy that hates cucumbers, how can you even hate cucumbers? They taste like water.”

“I just don’t like the texture!” He insisted, an indignant look on his face as he glanced back at you. “Strawberries are delicious and the texture isn’t bad!”

“Well, I don’t like the texture! Or the seeds!” You insisted, a blush coating your cheeks when he claimed that he couldn’t be with someone that didn’t like strawberries. It was pretty obvious what he meant.

He made his way over the trunk of a fallen tree and you climbed up once he’d landed on the other side, though you weren’t exactly the most graceful of people so of course, you ended up tripping.

His arms wrapped around you as you fell against him with a small yelp, and he wobbled slightly at the impact though somehow managed to keep the both of you upright.

“Careful,” he scolded gently. “Are you alright?”

You nodded, reaching up to brush your hair from your face before looking up, only to freeze when you found his face much too close to your own. The apology was caught in your throat as you gazed up at him, becoming increasingly aware of the heat of his body against yours, his nose mere centimetres from your own.

His eyes sucked you in like quicksand and you couldn’t look away from them. You could clearly see the way that his own orbs scanned over your features, his arms around your waist tightening slightly as his gaze flirted between your eyes and your mouth.

When his gaze lingered on your lips your brain stopped working completely.  _He wanted to kiss you. He was going to kiss you, oh god, oh god, oh god…_

“You snooze, you lose, fuckers!”

His lips barely brushed against yours before he jolted away from you with a start, his arms freeing you from their hold as he looked away from you, clearly embarrassed thanks to the interruption. Baekhyun cleared his throat uncomfortably as you turned to shoot daggers toward your best friend with your eyes, who was totally oblivious. He was standing there, a purple flag held between his fingers and a wide grin on his face. Jaehwan was stood beside him, a hand pressed to his face in pure exasperation.

“You really are an idiot sometimes,” Jaehwan sighed while dropping his hand to his side.

His soulmate looked at him in confusion before turning to you and Baekhyun, his eyes widening when he registered the small blush on the man’s cheeks and your murderous glare, as well as how close you were to each other. “Oops?”

//

That night in the tent was a little less awkward, though not by much. Your mind kept flashing back to that morning and the way that you’d woken up to find yourself draped all over him, resulting in much tossing and turning from you because what if it happened again?

Eventually, you heard a sigh from the man trying to sleep beside you and you let out a startled gasp when he reached for you, pulling you against him and pressing your head to his chest before wrapping his arms around you. “Baekhyun, what are you doing?”

“Saving you a trip in the middle of the night,” he responded with a small chuckle, his chest vibrating under your burning cheek. Your eyes widened at his answer.  _He knew?!_ “Sleep.”

You remained where he’d put you, though you did shift around briefly to get more comfortable. His breath was fanning against your hair and you found the sensation strangely soothing. You were just beginning to drift off when a thought crossed your mind, something that you’d been meaning to ask him about but you had forgotten.

“Baek?” You mumbled sleepily, continuing when he responded with a small hum. “Why did you change your hair?”

“You’re really asking that instead of sleeping when you can barely stay awake?” He replied, chest moving under you once again as he laughed quietly. “One of my friend’s soulmates loves to dye their hair. Whenever they do his hair changes to match theirs and he woke up bright green the other day. He was really self-conscious about it so I dyed my own so he wouldn’t feel like he stuck out as much, though he wasn’t very grateful. Apparently red is far too normal compared to green.”

You found yourself giggling at his answer, though it did make you realise just how nice he was, that he’d do something like that just to help a friend feel a little better about themselves. It wasn’t long after that you fell asleep, his arms wrapped around you and his nose buried in your hair.

//

It was the final day of the camping trip and the activity chosen for that afternoon had been soccer. The captains had been chosen, Hakyeon on one side and Baekhyun on the other.

As much as you wanted to be on Baekhyun’s team, you also wanted to survive the game. If you were on the opposite team to Hakyeon, he definitely wouldn’t go easy on you. When it came to sports the man was actually terrifying.

You breathed a sigh of relief when Hakyeon was given the first pick, instantly choosing you without hesitation. You glanced over at Baekhyun as you made your way over to Hakyeon, taking note of the small pout, and you smiled. He was so cute.

As soon as the teams were decided upon, you were given a brief moment to talk amongst yourselves. Jaehwan was refereeing the game and he seemed quite relieved about that fact. You couldn’t blame him really, Hakyeon was an absolute beast whether you were with him or against him.

“Okay,” Hakyeon stated loudly with a clap of his hands and everyone turned to face him. “I know that I’m supposed to give you a pep talk, a motivating pre-game speech… so win or you’re fired.”

He looked around at all of you, ignoring the way that you rolled your eyes as his gaze zeroed in on Kim Jisoo.

“Now, don’t give me that look, Jisoo, I know exactly what kind of research you’re doing in that cubicle of yours. Ever try clearing your internet history?” He barked out, raising a brow at the man in question as you tried to stifle a laugh. “Oh wait, you can’t… the network server doesn’t allow it.”

Jisoo turned away, his face bright red. You were telling the truth when you said that Hakyeon was terrifying when his competitive side came to the forefront.

“So if you want to keep your jobs you’ll do anything to win,” he continued with a smirk, his eyes landing on you. “Even if that means trampling all over your little boy toy.”

Your own cheeks flushed at his words and you stuttered indignantly. “You wouldn’t fire me I’m your best friend!”

“Wanna bet?” Was his simple response, a Cheshire Cat like grin on his face and you swallowed nervously.

“Alrighty then, one boy toy going down, got it.”

//

The match was intense, your team determined to win because disappointing Hakyeon was not an option and once Baekhyun’s team began to realise just how seriously your own team was taking it they began to match your own intensity and competitiveness.

Hakyeon was on a whole other level, however. His shouts had filled the field and you were pretty sure your own team was just praying for the game to end.

“NO I DID NOT BITE YOU MY TEETH JUST COLLIDED WITH YOUR COLLARBONE NEXT TIME IT’LL BE MY KNEE AND YOUR DICK!” You heard Hakyeon yell and you stopped to breathe when you heard the whistle blow, looking over at Jaehwan to see him holding up a red card while pointing at his boyfriend.

“What the fuck, Jaehwan?! I’m your boyfriend you can’t give me a red card!” Your best friend screeched, though Jaehwan simply sighed.

“I just did. You’ve embarrassed yourself enough. Off the field.”

You tried to muffle your laughter behind your hand as your best friend stomped his way over to Jaehwan like a three-year-old in the midst of a tantrum, though you quickly put on a straight face when he looked over at you with narrowed eyes, pointing between you and Baekhyun.

You knew that he wanted you to distract Baekhyun, as there wasn’t long left of the game and he was surprisingly good, actually getting most of the goals for his team. The game was currently tied and that was not good enough for Hakyeon; you had to win.

The game started up again, still intense but much more manageable now that Hakyeon had to shout instructions from the sidelines.

It wasn’t long until you saw Baekhyun get the ball, making his way down the field and you knew that if he managed to score a goal, it was game over.

So you did the only thing that you could think of, sprinting after him and launching yourself at his back the moment that you got close enough. You wrapped your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist, causing him to stumble, though he somehow managed to keep himself upright, while one of your own team took the opportunity to grab the ball.

“Can’t breathe,” Baekhyun choked out, patting you on the arm telling you to let go. You instantly loosened your grip on him, removing your legs from around his waist and sliding down his back to land back on solid ground, dropping your arms back down to your sides once you were steady.

“If you wanted cuddles you could’ve just asked, sweetheart,” he said as he turned to you, quickly reaching out to pull you close to him with an arm around your waist.

As per usual when you were put into these situations, your brain completely fried, leaving you simply staring up at him with your lips slightly parted in surprise as he grinned down at you cheekily.

You jolted when you heard Hakyeon scream, jumping backwards away from Baekhyun as the whistle went. You looked around, Hakyeon’s happy demeanour telling you that your team had won.

“Great distraction tactic, I taught you well, I’m so proud!” Hakyeon shouted at you, wiping pretend tears from his eyes as he looked at you proudly. You didn’t even try to stifle your groan.

//

That night you found yourself seated next to Baekhyun by the campfire. It’d been decided that you should all let loose and have a few drinks before returning home the following day.

You turned to look at Hakyeon when he balanced his iPhone dock on the log beside you, a grin growing on your face as he pressed play and the familiar sounds of Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic filled the air as he backed away from you. You let out an excited whoop, throwing your hands in the air.

“Come on, baby girl, let’s go!” He called out, and you totally forgot about Baekhyun as you sprang to your feet to rush over to your best friend, who instantly started moving with you to the music. It was almost a tradition for both of you, to dance together to this song when you were drunk. You’d actually watched the music video so much during drinking sessions in your apartments you could move pretty fluidly to it, even if you weren’t really the greatest dancer. Hakyeon, on the other hand, was an amazing dancer.

It wasn’t long until more people decided to join you, those that didn’t want to dance simply sitting around and cheering you on. You and Hakyeon moved together smoothly, having done this far too many times, even throwing in some moves from the music video much to everyone else’s amusement. It never got old for you, it was yours and his thing and you enjoyed every second of it.

Your eyes were sparkling when you glanced over toward Baekhyun, a huge grin on your face as you laughed with your best friend. Baekhyun had a small smile of his own as he watched, his eyes fixed on you the entire time. Mere moments later, you felt his presence beside you and you turned, beaming at him happily with flushed cheeks.

He simply reached out for you and you allowed him to pull you closer to him. You proceeded to spend the rest of the evening with him, with your body moulded to his, his hands gripping your hips as your bodies moved together.

It was then that you finally realised you truly liked him. You’d well and truly lost the battle and honestly, you didn’t mind.

When your movements finally began to slow as you gazed up at him, a look of wonder painting your features thanks to your epiphany, as well as the pure adoration that shone from his eyes as he looked at you, you finally allowed yourself to do what you’d wanted to from the very start. Not giving yourself any time to hesitate or feel nervous, you moved your hands to grip his shoulders as you lifted yourself slightly on to the tips of your toes, before finally pressing your lips softly against his.

You’d barely made it back to the tent before your mouth was once again glued to his, his lips capturing your own the minute the both of you had fallen into the tent and the small electric lamp had been switched on.

It wasn’t difficult to get drunk off of the feeling of his soft lips moulding to yours, his tongue brushing against your own as he kissed you like he wanted to drown in the feeling.

It wasn’t long before you were under him, your legs parted to allow him to rest between them as his body hovered above you, your hands tangling in his hair as he kissed you passionately. You were breathing heavily, completely immersed in him as his lips moved to your throat, gentle kisses being pressed against your heated skin. You were unable to stop yourself from grinding against him when his teeth nipped at your skin and he let out a quiet, breathy moan in response.

“God, I’ve wanted to have you like this since I met you.”

You barely registered his words, your mind hazy due to the feeling of his mouth and hands on you as he gripped your waist tightly. His hands moved, making their way upwards as his mouth began to move lower. He began to unbutton your shirt slowly, moving the fabric out of the way as he kissed his way down your throat to your now exposed collarbones. You moaned as he grazed his teeth against it, your loud, uneven breaths filling the small tent.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he pulled away to look down at you, a small, gentle smile on his face.

Confusion washed over you when his smile abruptly fell, replaced by furrowed brows and a small frown as he looked down at you.

He didn’t give you a chance to question him, quickly shifting away from you and turning off the small electric lamp that hung from the top of the tent.

“It’s late and we have to pack up early tomorrow, you should sleep,” he told you quietly, a coldness to his voice that you’d never heard before, as he lay down beside you with his back facing you as you stared at his broad shoulders in confusion.

It took a moment, but your mind finally registered the reason for the abrupt change, one of your hands moving to the undone buttons of your shirt before drifting over your exposed collarbone.

He’d seen your tattoo.

You began to panic internally, realising that he must have come to one of two conclusions. Either you already had a soulmate and had kept it from him, or he recognised the word and realised that he was your soulmate and that you’d kept it from him.

“Baek?” You whispered hesitantly, wanting to explain it to him, but you were met with silence. You’d truly fucked up, you knew that and you wanted to fix it, though you didn’t know how to do that when he clearly didn’t want to talk to you.

Instead, you rolled over to face the wall of the tent, your back facing his. You’d talk to Hakyeon and ask for his advice in the morning because you were at a total loss as to what to do.  _Fuck._

_//_

The following morning you were thankful that you woke up before Baekhyun, leaving the tent before you could be stuck in an awkward situation again. You were tired, having barely slept at all due to the way that your mind was racing, trying to come up with ways to talk to him about the whole situation.

You decided that you just wanted to go home and sleep, that you’d discuss things with Hakyeon and Jaehwan on the drive home and get their advice. To do that, however, you needed to get your best friend packed and ready to go, so you offered to help.

Hakyeon’s idea of helping was much different to yours, the idiot standing there, watching as you and Jaehwan did all the work.

“Why am I the one packing up your shit?” You asked him frustratedly, your tiredness making you a bit more snappy than usual.

“Wench, you were made for hard labour. I was not.” Was his sassy response and you spun around to glare at him.

“Wench?!” You yelled at him, uncaring for others nearby or Baekhyun who was still asleep in the tent beside Hakyeon’s. “Did you really just call me a wench? You know how much I hate that you prick! Pack up your own shit!”

Apparently, you weren’t the only one with a bit of a loose temper that morning, as Baekhyun came storming out of his own tent. He looked decidedly angry, a glare and a finger pointing at you accusingly and your own anger dimmed down a little.

“Are you fucking serious?!” He shouted at you and you flinched slightly. You’d never seen Baekhyun angry and it was admittedly a little frightening. “You knew that you were my soulmate, didn’t you? Were you ever going to tell me or just wait until I ended up with the fucking word wench tattooed on my chest?”

You blinked at him for a moment, your mouth opening and closing as your brain tried to process what he’d just said. Instead of saying something to try and alleviate his anger, your mouth simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Oh, please, like defenestration is any better.”

The man actually growled at you and you took a step back when he took a threatening step towards you. You felt Hakyeon come up behind you and you found yourself feeling thankful that he was there.

“That’s beside the fucking point! Were you ever going to tell me? What was the plan? A one night stand in a tent in the middle of the woods and then going back to pretending that I don’t even exist?”

You found yourself stuttering, the sheer fury that was radiating from him rendering your mouth completely useless. His words hurt and you couldn’t stop the tears that came to your eyes and you saw guilt briefly flash through his own orbs before it was gone.

Hakyeon didn’t give you a chance to form an answer, pulling you behind him and stepping in front of you protectively.

“I don’t care if you’re my boss, you do  _not_  speak to her like that,” Hakyeon told him, his voice scarily calm. “Do it again and I’ll tear every single perfect curl from that stupid head of yours.”

Baekhyun scoffed at that before turning away, shouting back over his shoulder as he stormed away.

“Whatever, she clearly didn’t want me as a soulmate so she can have what she wants. I don’t want her.”

You were too upset and hurt to stop him from leaving, to try and explain it to him and to tell him that you had planned to tell him, that you did want him. Instead, you just let him walk away.

“Are you alright?” Hakyeon asked you as he turned to take you into his arms, wrapping them around you in a tight hug as he rested his chin on the crown of your head.

You nodded, sinking into the comfort that your best friend was giving you.

“Hakyeon, what do I do?” You asked him, your voice cracking slightly. You felt a warm puff of air against the top of your head as he sighed.

“I don’t know but we’ll figure it out, okay?” He murmured gently and all you could do was nod.

//

‘Figuring it out’ seemed to be a lot easier said than done. On the drive home, you’d finally explained everything properly to your friends. You told them how you’d decided that you should give it a chance on the first day, but that you’d decided to take it slow. You simply hadn’t been ready for him to find out and you’d needed time.

You told them that you’d enjoyed spending time with him over the weekend, that you really did like him and as you’d stopped fighting it, the bond had begun to lead the way. You actually wanted a relationship with him by the end of it all and now you’d completely missed the chance due to your own fears.

It was easy to understand Baekhyun’s hurt and anger. He had probably been waiting his entire life to find you, the one person that he was supposed to be with for the rest of his life and to him, it must seem as though you didn’t want him. While that had been true in the beginning, everything had changed.

You’d known that he would be upset when he found out, yet you’d still kept it from him regardless due to your own selfishness. Now, you needed to fix it and show him that you did want him.

It became quite clear on your first morning back at work that he wasn’t having any of it, that he was putting as much distance between you as possible. You found yourself standing beside him, waiting for the elevator and you wondered if you would be able to use the opportunity to talk to him despite the fact that he hadn’t even glanced in your direction.

You’d stepped into the elevator first and your hopes had shattered when he’d simply leaned in to press the button to close the doors, before remaining outside. If he didn’t even want to ride the elevator with you, how were you supposed to talk to him?

Since that morning you’d taken to grabbing an extra coffee for him every day without fail, though he’d never once accepted them. The first morning when you’d greeted him with a smile and tried to give him the Americano, he’d stared at you blankly before turning to enter his office, closing the door behind him with a slam.

You hadn’t stopped, however, still continuing to bring them even if they remained untouched on Hakyeon’s desk.

After a while, you decided to step up your game considering you were getting nowhere with the drinks, and you decided to bring him lunch as well. You’d gone out to get black bean noodles, unsure what else to get and remembering that he’d enjoyed it the first time that you’d shared lunch together.

You were nervous and yet excited when you knocked gently on the door to his office, a shiver running down your spine when he called out for you to enter, which you did so with a smile.

“What do you want?” Baekhyun asked once he’d glanced over at you briefly before looking back at his computer screen. Unsurprisingly, his voice was as cold as ice but you tried not to let it affect you though your smile did falter slightly.

“I brought you lunch!” You told him, a false chirpiness to your voice that was a clear indication as to how nervous you were.

He simply stood from his seat, grabbing the suit jacket that was hanging from the back of his chair.

“I’m eating out,” was all he said as he walked across the office to leave.

“Baek, I was going to tell you,” you said in a broken whisper, the slight falter in his steps as he passed you indicating that he’d heard even though he didn’t stop, leaving the office and closing the door behind him.

You were running out of ideas on what you could do, growing more and more despondent each day. Your breaking point came when you took some fabric samples up to his office for him to choose from for one of his designs.

You’d clearly noticed the deep blue, slightly glossy satin-like material and felt warmth fill you at the realisation that he’d listened to your suggestion. You felt strangely comforted by that simple fact.

You entered his office when he gave you permission, walking over to his desk with the different fabrics in your arms.

“The fabric samples that you asked for,” you informed him, placing them on the desk and his eyes flitted over them briefly. The blue fabric was on top and you noticed a slight tick to his jaw as he reached out for it.

“You can take this one back down, I won’t be using it,” he told you, grabbing the blue fabric and thrusting it in your direction.

“Baekhy-“

“You can go,” he told you bluntly. When you stepped out of his office this time, you finally gave in and cried. Hakyeon tried to comfort you and told you to persevere, that Baekhyun would come around, but you didn’t really want to anymore. You were tired of being hurt by him.

//

You completely stopped trying to talk to Baekhyun. You didn’t try to bring him lunch, if you saw him waiting for the elevator you took the stairs and you certainly wouldn’t step onto his floor unless it was absolutely necessary. The only thing that you still did was bring him coffee every morning, though instead of bringing it up yourself you passed it on to Hakyeon.

You were beyond miserable, barely sleeping or eating and you wondered how things had gotten to this point so quickly, though there was only one proper explanation for the strength of your feelings; the soulmate bond.

Friday morning you stepped into the coffee shop that you frequented, completely aware that you looked an absolute mess. Privé was holding an event that evening to announce the launch of their new line and you’d been roped into attending, once again taking Hakyeon’s place as he had a wedding to attend that day.

That meant being Baekhyun’s personal assistant for the night and you weren’t sure how to feel about it. You were tired, miserable and heartbroken. You were sure this was going to be a bad night for you.

“The usual?” You were asked when you stepped up to the counter and you shook your head at the owner with a wan smile.

“Forget the americano today, Min,” you told him and he looked at you in concern. You knew that you didn’t look so hot, bags under your eyes from lack of sleep, slightly skinnier due to not eating as well as before.

“Go and take a seat, I’ll bring it over,” he told you and you gave him a thankful nod before going to take a seat at a nearby table.

You gave him a small thanks when he brought the drink over to you, though you were slightly surprised when he took a seat opposite you.

“You look like you need someone to talk to,” he told you simply, watching you patiently as you thought it over. You decided that he was right and ended up telling him the whole story while he listened patiently.

“Wait, you’re telling me that your soulmate is your boss?” He asked you, looking a little surprised.

“Well, yeah, technically. He’s the CEO of the company that I work for, Privé.”

You noticed a flash of recognition in his eyes at the name of the company, his brows furrowing slightly before they evened out and he gave you a small, comforting smile.

“You’re a lovely girl and I’m sure that he’ll see that eventually. You made a mistake, just like we all do but you’re trying to make it better. I’m sure he’ll come around.” He told you but you simply shook your head at him in response, glancing down at your watch before grabbing your things once you realised you were late.

“I won’t force him, Minseok. He’s made it quite clear that he doesn’t want to be with me, so I think it’s time that I stop trying.”

Minseok watched you leave, before walking behind the counter to grab his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he landed on a particular name.

He had a frown on his face when he brought the phone up to his ear, waiting for the line to be connected. You didn’t deserve the way that you were being treated, and he wasn’t happy about it. He breathed out a small sigh when the call was connected, his friend’s voice greeting him from the other end.

“Baekhyun, we need to talk.”

//

Baekhyun released a small groan, burying his face in his hands once he’d hung up the phone. He was beyond stressed, he was angry at himself and his mind was an absolute disaster.

Hakyeon was barely speaking to him, the only words leaving his mouth being snarky comments and sarcastic remarks, which made it rather difficult to get any work done. Not an ideal situation, especially with an important event coming up. Thankfully, all the preparations had been completed regardless and now all that was left was for the event and launch of the new line that evening to go without a hitch. Things were finally looking up.

Except that his friend, Minseok, had just decided to raise his stress levels with an unannounced lecture.

He was surprised that one of his closest friends knew you and he’d been even more caught off guard that he apparently knew you well enough to berate him over his treatment of you.

Baekhyun knew that he’d been a complete dick where you were concerned. You’d clearly been trying to make it up to him and show him that you cared, yet he’d been far too upset and angry to accept any of it.

Once he’d finally calmed down, he began to feel guilty over his behaviour and once you’d stopped approaching him, he wasn’t sure what to do. He knew that by leaving it neither of you would be happy; you needed to talk.

He just needed to get the event out of the way first, and then he could focus on trying to fix things with you and try to make up for his petty behaviour.

//

You were standing off to the side of the red carpet, the flashes of the camera’s beginning to give you a migraine. You’d been run off your feet all day, trying to make sure that everything was set to run perfectly.

There was an increase in noise from the reporters and you glanced over, taking note of the tall man with black, shoulder length hair and you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t stare at the actor with stars in your eyes. It wasn’t every day that you got to stand mere meters from Kris Wu, one of the most famous Asian actors.

Once he’d entered into the venue, there was a brief respite before the noise level rose once again, this time much louder.

You froze when your eyes fell on Baekhyun, his red hair styled perfectly, a charming smile on his face as he talked to the journalists. He was wearing clothes from his own line and you briefly registered the deep blue satin fabric of the shirt before you pushed the thought to the back of your mind.

The shirt was left partly open to show off the smooth skin of his chest, the accessories that he wore attracting your eyes to the area. His dark pants clung to his thighs like a second skin and you stared briefly for a moment before looking away. He was absolutely gorgeous.

You missed the way that his eyes landed on you as soon as you looked away from him, an appreciation in their depths that said he thought you looked just as stunning.

You watched from backstage as Baekhyun introduced the new line, before moving off to allow the fashion show to commence. You were already tired, having been doing your best to avoid him throughout the evening despite being his PA for the night.

You followed from behind as he made his way up to the VIP area, keeping a fair distance between you. You didn’t want to try and talk to him tonight, not wanting to ruin the night for him. In all honesty, you’d meant it when you’d told Minseok that it was time for you to stop trying. You just didn’t have it in you to keep hurting yourself in that way.

So you simply kept your distance, watching as Baekhyun held conversations with other influential people in the fashion industry before Individually thanking the models. You didn’t miss the way that he smiled and flirted with the girls and you willed yourself not to cry, trying to ignore the lump that had taken up residence in your throat and the crack that had formed in your heart.

You were exhausted and emotional as the night was coming to an end. As much as you’d wanted to enjoy the event, you hadn’t had it in you to.

You finally broke when you noticed Baekhyun seated on one of the leather couches in the VIP section, a glass of champagne in one hand and the other arm draped over the back of the couch as he smiled down at the beautiful model beside him.

It was one of his cheeky, flirty smiles and it hurt immensely to see it directed at somebody that wasn’t you. You had done so much to try and make it up to him and he’d never even given you a chance to explain and it was becoming clear to you that none of this really affected him the way that it did you.

Tears pricked at your eyes and you turned quickly, practically running toward the bathrooms, though you were already sobbing uncontrollably before you made it.

You gasped when you were halfway down the hall that led to the ladies’ room when a hand grabbed your wrist and you came to an abrupt stop.

“Why are you crying?” Baekhyun asked you, a concerned look on his face when he turned you to face him though you could barely see it through the abundance of tears.

You continued to sob, babbling incoherent words as you tried to tell him how sorry you were and that you didn’t know what else you could do.

“Please, stop crying,” Baekhyun murmured, pain filling his tone as he pulled you into him, wrapping an arm around you to rub soothing circles against your back, though you just cried harder at the action.

Without warning, Baekhyun pulled back slightly, his head dipping down to capture your lips with his and you gasped at the surprising action.

You were so shocked that your sobs came to a sudden halt. You were frozen, the gentle pressure of his lips on yours something that you’d convinced yourself that you wouldn’t feel again. The moment you began to melt into the kiss, he pulled back.

“That’s better,” he breathed, bringing a hand up to your face to wipe away the wetness from your cheeks. “I think it’s time that we talked… can I take you home?”

You gave a small nod, already trying to think of ways to explain everything to him now that you were being given a chance to.

//

You fidgeted nervously the entire drive back to your apartment, and the nerves only increased when he was seated beside you on your couch.

You were quiet, trying to decide where to begin when he heaved out a sigh, reaching out and pulling you over to sit on his lap, his arms wrapped around your waist. He rested his chin on top of your head with a contented hum once he was satisfied, before beginning to speak.

“I’m sorry,” he told you quietly, his arms tightening briefly. “I’ve been acting like an idiot and I’m sorry.”

You shook your head as well as you could, wanting to pull back to look up at him but he was holding you much too tightly for you to do that easily.

“It’s my fault, I should have told you. I just wasn’t ready to.”

You proceeded to tell him your reasons, about your family and your fears as he listened to you quietly. He allowed you to tell him all of it, releasing a small sigh when you’d finished.

“I really overreacted. I was hurt and I was angry but I should have handled it better,” he told you, loosening his trip to finally allow you to pull back to look up at him. “By the time I’d begun to think about this whole thing rationally, I didn’t know how to approach you. I felt too guilty to do it easily. I was so stressed with the launch of the new line and the event, I decided to leave it until after, but I couldn’t when I saw how upset you were tonight, knowing that it was all my fault.”

“It was both of our faults, Baekhyun. We hurt each other,” you told him with a small shake of your head and he gave you a soft smile, reaching up to brush a stray hair away from your cheek.

“I really thought you didn’t want me,” he told you with a quiet chuckle. “I acted like a petty little brat instead of talking to you. It’s much more my fault than yours.”

You gave him a small, wry smile at that because he was kind of right about that. He definitely was much pettier than you’d have guessed.

“I did want you, Baekhyun. I’d already decided to give this a chance before you found out, I just needed time to tell you.”

The smile that he gave you when you told him that was one of the brightest that you’d ever seen on him and you couldn’t help but return it.

“You still want to?” He asked you and you nodded in response.

“You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

He pressed his lips to yours in a gentle kiss and you reciprocated eagerly. It didn’t take long for him to deepen the kiss, his head tilting for better access as his tongue brushed against your lower lip, asking for access which you gave him without hesitation.

You poured your feelings into the kiss, showing him just how much you’d missed him. You shifted in his lap as he helped you until you were straddling his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your fingers in his soft hair as his lips trailed down to your neck.

When he began to press open-mouthed kisses against the skin, his tongue leaving little kitten licks in their wake, you couldn’t contain your small gasps and moans.

His hands were gripping your bare thighs, his own moans vibrating against the skin of your neck as you began to grind down onto his growing bulge.

Not long later you were naked beneath him, your cool sheets against your back as he kissed every inch of your exposed skin, trying to show you just how precious you were to him without words.

His own breathy moans filled your ears as you stroked him, while he used his fingers to bring you to your first orgasm.

The moment you’d come down, he settled between your thighs, the tip of his erection poking at your entrance as he gazed down at you.

His eyes never left yours as he entered you slowly, the both of you moaning in tandem at the pleasure as your walls gripped him tightly.

“Fuck, baby girl you feel so good,” he gasped out once he was in completely and your walls clenched around him in response.

He began to move, slowly at first though he gradually picked up the pace until the sounds of slapping skin filled the room and his face was buried into the crook of your neck.

The both of you were gasping and moaning with each thrust, your nails digging into the skin of his back as you cried out when he hit that one sensitive spot inside you.

Your body moved with his, your pleasured moans becoming louder with each movement as the heat inside of you began to build to a raging inferno.

Your walls began to clench around him as you grew closer to your peak, his own hips stuttering in response. He moved a hand between your bodies so that he could rub against your clit with his thumb and that was the final push that you needed, your body shuddering beneath him as you cried out his name, stars colliding behind your closed eyelids as your orgasm took over you.

He thrust into you a few more times before he reached his own peak, his hips stuttering as a whiny moan left him.

After taking a few moments to recover, he simply rolled to the side before pulling you over to rest your head on his shoulder, his arms holding you to him tightly. It wasn’t long until both of you fell asleep, feeling much more content than either of you had in a while.

//

The following morning, you were greeted by Baekhyun’s soft smile and sleepy eyes.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” He greeted you, giving you a small peck on the lips.

“Good morning,” you mumbled back, your own smile in place. You were quite sure it was going to stay there for the rest of the day.

“Do you have plans for today?” He asked you, shifting in the bed beside you to drape an arm over your waist, the tips of his fingers brushing small circles against your skin.

“No, why?” You asked, looking up at him with curious eyes.

“Good, because I want to take my girlfriend out on a date,” he responded, beaming down at you with a bright grin. His words fill you with warmth, filling you with so much happiness that you couldn’t help but smile back just as brightly.

You’d never envisioned yourself to have a soulmate, especially not one like Byun Baekhyun. You’d never wanted to fall, but now that you had, you were going to make the most of every second of it.


End file.
